Oma and Opa (Version #3)
I stopped everything
To go watch my grandmother die
I took the A train uptown to 207th St
And walked up the street where the black squirrels ran
Three children were sledding down the snow covered hill
In laundry baskets, sleds, and cookie sheets
How could someone be so depressed and sad
When children play just outside?
I found my grandmother laying in the chair
Still and motionless
Not knowing I was there
I bent down
And held her hand
It was cold and veiny, filled with spots from the liver
She awoke to my warm touch and smile
Her grey hair had not been washed in days
Her whiskers on her cheek unclipped
Her leg swollen from where the cancer was carved away
Her depression making her hunch-back and stiff
Her wrinkles competing with her fragile structure
Her blue eyes still as powerful as my own
Her tears salty to the glance
Her heart still beating from the love
I delivered my words
As much as I could
Of hope and strength
Awards and certificates line the walls
Old portraits and photographs too
My artwork from when I was little
And articles about my grandfather’s favorite Democrats
The door knobs still have crystal on them
The door frames still arched
The couch still covered in plastic
The candy dish still on the round coffee table
My grandparents wearing their old clothes
From so many years ago
I don’t even know what is hip
In or out
The bed was unmade
Easier access perhaps
The dishes were clean
There was an overabundance of food from Meals-On-Wheels
She can no longer walk
Or go to the toilet alone
No more cookies for me
No more smiles on her face
She can no longer breathe sunny air
Afraid to go to doctors
Taking numerous pills a day, an hour
She sits and cries
All she can say
Is that God is punishing her
And never forget about her Five sisters and Mother
Murdered by the Nazis
As she escaped
And ran away
From Lithuania
As the sun came down today
They will not let me take the subway home
We order a car service
Arriving on time
They pack me full of different goodies
Fruit and Milk mainly
They have so much they cannot finish
Instead of rotting, they send it with me
Sometimes, as I see those pears rot in their kitchen
I make direct associations, and see them
Oma still lives
But,
What do I do now?
© 2000 David Greg Harth
00.02.05.03:00:00 @ 83PTW NYC
00.02.05.22:56:05 @ 296E NYC